With anxious eyes, Kim Yeonwoo bit his finger while staring at his phone screen before eventually calling Han Doyoon. But no matter how long the dial tone continued, Han Doyoon didn’t answer.
“Why, just why?!”
Crunch!
Blood trickled down from Kim Yeonwoo’s thumb. Despite this, he continued biting his thumb. His gaze, which had been scrolling down the phone screen, stopped at the name labeled “Sunbae Minho.” After biting his lip hard, Kim Yeonwoo called Im Hangyeol, whose name appeared below.
Ring… ring…
After the repetitive dial tone, a familiar voice came through.
[Yeonwoo?]
“Hangyeol…”
Kim Yeonwoo felt relieved that Im Hangyeol answered his call but soon frowned. The fact that there was now someone who wouldn’t answer his calls weighed heavily on him.
[Yeonwoo, what’s wrong? Did something happen?]
“Hangyeol, where are you?”
[Me? I’m at the libra—, no, no! I forgot something so I came to school for a moment.]
“I miss you, Hangyeol.”
[Huh?!]
“I miss you…”
The only ones I have left are Doha and you. Just the two of you… Kim Yeonwoo bit his lip hard. So many people were once around me, but they’ve all disappeared. All because of just one person!!
[Wait, I’ll be right there!!]
“Okay…”
Kim Yeonwoo blankly stared at his phone screen after the call ended, then lifted his head to look out the window. The sky was filled with gray clouds. Disliking what he saw, he deeply furrowed his brow.
“An umbrella. Hangyeol is unexpectedly careless, so he probably didn’t bring one. If I don’t bring one for him…”
Rising from his seat, Kim Yeonwoo grabbed his umbrella and another one that Kim Doha had accidentally left behind.
“If I don’t hurry…”
Arriving at school with hurried steps, Kim Yeonwoo spotted Im Hangyeol. Even from a distance, he could see the distinctive red hair and started to smile with joy, but as he raised his hand to greet Im Hangyeol, he suddenly stopped.
“Why…?”
‘Why are you here?’
Deep brown hair swayed in the humid breeze. Seeing Jaeyoon smiling lovingly as his large eyes curved into crescents, Kim Yeonwoo’s face twisted in displeasure.
“Why are you smiling?!”
Im Hangyeol shouted at Jaeyoon, his face turning apple-red. But Kim Yeonwoo could tell. Im Hangyeol’s gaze toward Jaeyoon wasn’t as cold as before. Rather, seeing him look at Jaeyoon with obvious interest made Kim Yeonwoo’s hands tremble.
‘No, no!! Hangyeol likes me! So…’
Thinking that he shouldn’t leave the two of them together any longer, Kim Yeonwoo was about to rush over to Im Hangyeol. But at that moment, the words that came out of Im Hangyeol’s mouth made his legs freeze in place.
“Well… after graduating middle school, you and I were kind of… you know?”
Kim Yeonwoo’s eyes widened. His trembling gaze shifted to Im Hangyeol. He was scratching his head while carefully looking at Jaeyoon. At Im Hangyeol’s words, Jaeyoon frowned as if asking what he meant, then let out a long sigh. Seeing Jaeyoon nod slightly, Kim Yeonwoo unconsciously took a step back. For a moment, Jaeyoon appeared lost in thought, his lips closed and eyes downcast, making Kim Yeonwoo anxiously bite his thumb.
‘It’s because Lee Jaeyoon is bad. Yes, their relationship soured because Lee Jaeyoon is a bad person…!! It wasn’t my doing. It’s not my fault! Hangyeol must know that too. Yes, that I didn’t do it on purpose…!’
“Hey, what’s wrong? Why are you suddenly quiet with that serious expression?”
But why are you looking at Lee Jaeyoon with such a worried face? Huh? Hangyeol…
Kim Yeonwoo’s gaze turned to Jaeyoon. In response to Im Hangyeol’s question, he shrugged as if it was nothing and shook his head from side to side. After quietly observing Jaeyoon, Im Hangyeol hesitated briefly before carefully speaking.
“Are you good at studying?”
“Somewhat, why?”
After tilting his head in confusion momentarily, Jaeyoon’s eyes rounded as he asked, “Do you want me to tutor you?” Im Hangyeol’s eyes widened in response. He seemed genuinely surprised, raising his voice as he answered, which made Kim Yeonwoo feel even worse.
“No?”
“NO!!”
“Nevermind then. I was going to ask you to teach me, but if not…”
“Huh?! Hey, w-wait a minute…!!”
“I have to go meet my sunbae, so bye~”
“Ah, wait a moment!!”
Kim Yeonwoo couldn’t stand the sight of Jaeyoon’s bright smile.
‘Liar! Liar! LIAR!!! You’re approaching Hangyeol, pretending to be nice and innocent, but you say it’s not true? That it’s a misunderstanding? Lee Jaeyoon, you terrible liar!!!’
“You seem to have gotten meaner?”
“Thanks for the compliment~”
“Really…”
Im Hangyeol sighed as he pressed his hand against his forehead, and Jaeyoon responded with a gentle smile. Kim Yeonwoo wanted to jump in and tear off that mask of pretended goodness.
“But isn’t it strange to say I’ve gotten meaner? You were the one picking fights with me, calling me a bad guy who always bullies the kind Yeonwoo.”
Yes, that’s right! You know it well. You are the bad guy. The despicable, ugly person everyone hates…! But, Hangyeol, why are you making that expression? Why aren’t you agreeing? When you make that face, it’s as if everything is a misunderstanding! You shouldn’t look sad as if you hurt Jaeyoon by misunderstanding him!
“Come to the library after school.”
At Jaeyoon’s voice, Kim Yeonwoo’s eyes sharpened.
‘So it was true, you’re trying to steal everyone precious to me!!’
I won’t just sit back and take it anymore! I’ll reveal your ugly side to everyone, and Sunbae Minho, Hangyeol, and Sunbae Doyoon! I’ll make them all come back to me! They’re all just momentarily fooled by you. I’ll put everything back the way it was! So!!
“Alright! But no phones when we study. No texting with that sunbae guy!”
At Im Hangyeol’s words, Kim Yeonwoo’s eyes shook rapidly.
‘No. No. NO!!!’
Kim Yeonwoo grabbed his head with both hands. He couldn’t accept it. He didn’t want to acknowledge that Im Hangyeol’s face and voice seemed to show that he liked Jaeyoon.
“No, no, no…”
Tears began to fall one by one from Kim Yeonwoo’s eyes. Looking at the scene unfolding before him through blurry vision, he gritted his teeth as he watched the two part ways. He secretly observed Im Hangyeol leaving the school with slightly flushed cheeks and a pleased smile, then quickly ran toward the stairs that Jaeyoon had ascended. He roughly grabbed Jaeyoon’s shoulder as he was walking down the corridor. As Jaeyoon turned around to see what was happening, Kim Yeonwoo shouted loudly.
“Everything changed because of you!”
***
Jaeyoon frowned at the sight of Kim Yeonwoo crying with wide eyes. Why does he come to pick fights whenever he’s free? It now seemed only natural that Lee Jaeyoon had become the villain. Every time Jaeyoon tried to forget, Yeonwoo would come and provoke him—what could a mere high school student do about it? Jaeyoon knew it would be a waste of time to engage with him, so he intended to ignore Kim Yeonwoo and walk past. But Kim Yeonwoo reached out and grabbed Jaeyoon’s arm.
“Liar!!!”
Jaeyoon sighed heavily and swatted away the hand gripping his arm. But Kim Yeonwoo didn’t give up and grabbed his arm again.
‘Haven’t I seen this scene before…?’
The image of how Yeonwoo had caused Im Hangyeol to misunderstand Jaeyoon unfolded before Jaeyoon’s eyes like déjà vu.
‘So if I grab him by the collar now, I become the villain again?’
As Jaeyoon watched quietly, Kim Yeonwoo gripped his arm more tightly and spoke with a voice full of resentment.
“Do you enjoy pretending to know nothing, acting nice, hovering around everyone, and taking them away from me one by one? Have you ever thought about how I feel? Everyone doesn’t know anything and falls for your tricks… But if they saw your true self, they would definitely be disgusted! Someone like you…!!”
Jaeyoon’s eyes narrowed. What is this? Something feels off… After listening carefully to Kim Yeonwoo’s words, he narrowed his brows. Pretending to know nothing, acting nice. Hovering around and taking people away one by one…
“Aren’t those the things you’ve been doing?”
“What…?”
The mouth that had been loudly chattering went quiet. Seeing Kim Yeonwoo’s surprised expression, Jaeyoon felt a cold clarity washing over him. There had been something off. He had simply dismissed it as his own sensitivity and hadn’t wanted to think about it deeply…
Why were so many of Kim Yeonwoo’s romance targets people precious to Lee Jaeyoon? Except for Kim Doha, who had been Kim Yeonwoo’s childhood friend from the beginning, the other three were all people connected to Lee Jaeyoon. His brother, his friend, and the sunbae he had a crush on. If Kim Yeonwoo had never appeared, they would still be Lee Jaeyoon’s precious people, and Jaeyoon would still be living peaceful days without any problems.
Jaeyoon looked at Kim Yeonwoo with coldly sunken eyes. Anxiously darting his eyes around, Yeonwoo looked like someone who had clearly done something wrong.
“Did you deliberately approach the people around me?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
